Cage Warriors 50 results: Hempleman and Reis score overseas wins

The American headed overseas and scored a decision victory over McVeigh in the headliner of Saturday’s Cage Warriors 50 event. It marked McVeigh’s first loss in the promotion while also spoiling a 6-0 run his Dinky Ninjas teammates had put together heading into 130-pound main event.

The event took place Saturday at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, and it streamed live on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The fighters proved evenly matched in a first round full of punches and kicks. Hempleman suffered a cut near his right eye, but his quick feet and hands made him a hard target to reach. McVeigh instead focused on low kicks, but Hempleman effectively countered.

The second round played out with a similarly frantic pace as neither fighter slowed a step. Hempleman found a home for his lunging punches, but McVeigh made him pay with knees to the body during the round.

With both fighters bloodied and bruised heading into the final frame, the standup war continued. Hempleman’s jabs and combos landed more frequently. McVeigh (18-8) continued attacking the body with knees and kicks, but Hempleman (9-1) was the aggressor and pushed the pace throughout much of the fight.

In the end, the Idaho-based fighter was rewarded for his aggression and took the unanimous-decision win via 30-27 scores.

“I was about as nervous as I’ve ever been, but I felt about as great as I’ve ever felt,” said Hempleman, a longtime gymnast who said his background in the sport has greatly impacted his fighting skills. “Paul is a tough SOB, so this means a lot.”

Despite the loss, McVeigh, a former Cage Warriors challenger who was 8-0 in the promotion, was smiling after the fight.

“He did a really good job of kicking the s— out of my leg,” he said. “It made it really hard to push off anything. … It wasn’t my best performance, but I really enjoyed that fight.”

Reis chokes Roddy unconcious

Wilson Reis kept his Cage Warriors’ debut from being a complete loss.

After surrendering 40 percent of his purse because he failed to make the bantamweight limit at Friday’s weigh-ins, and though opponent Owed Roddy initially gave him everything he could handle, Reis used an impressive third-round sequence to get the win in the night’s co-main event.

The former EliteXC champion and three-time Bellator competitor continually tried to force the fight to the mat via whatever method possible. But a crafty Roddy kept the action close, defended against submissions, and landed some solid shots as Reis began to tire in the second round.

But Reis got his opening in the final frame. The jiu-jitsu black belt first scored a knockdown and then pounced on his opponent while unloading a couple dozen elbows and punches. Then, he moved to Roddy’s back and put him to sleep with a rear-naked choke at the 1:32 mark of the round.

“I was just waiting for the opening,” he said after the fight. “My hands are heavy, and I was waiting. … I gassed in the second, but I just looked for that opening.”

Reis (16-4) now has won four straight fights since his Bellator release in 2011. Roddy (11-4), meanwhile, snaps a seven-fight win streak.

Johnston and Askham among other main-card winners

Aaron Wilkinson fired off many submission attempts from his back, but fellow welterweight Alan Johnston largely controlled the action from the top and mixed in some solid body blows to edge “The Ultimate Fighter 12″ cast member via decision. Despite three close rounds, Johnston was the unanimous-decision winner via 30-28, 30-27 and 29-28 scores.

Despite some late-fight fatigue issues, Scott Askham (8-0) outlasted fellow middleweight Denniston Sutherland (19-8) in a grueling three-rounder. Askham won via unanimous decision with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 scores. He remains undefeated the win, which marks his first time going to a decision.

In a featherweight bout, Graham Turner (21-7) scored a takedown and then battered Nathan Beer (13-5) as he tried to return to his fight to force a TKO stoppage at the 4:30 mark of the opening round. The action-packed win marks Turner’s fourth victory in five fights and his 13th knockout in 21 career wins.

In the night’s opening bout, Dan Hope (9-5) easily got top position and rarely let it go as he topped fellow 175-pounder and Avi Jack (6-2) via dominant unanimous decision (29-27 scores across the board, due to Hope’s third-round point deduction for blows to the back of the head). It was a much-needed win for the Brit, who had lost three consecutive fights heading into the event.

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